RITA COOK / News Editor

    WILMER – While Wilmer city officials said it is not the most ideal situation, the sewer removal at the Emoli/Liberty Crossing Apartments is following TCEQ requirements.

    “It is happening, it is not ideal,” said Wilmer Interim City Administrator Dr. John Hubbard.

    “We are within compliance and it is all self-contained.”

    Lorrie McDonald, a Wilmer watchdog said, “As best we can tell, people started moving in about October, not sure how many residents, my guess there are 20 to 30 rented apartments based on cars seen.”

    Wilmer officials said this is a temporary sewer situation since residents were moved into the apartments before the sewer line was complete.

    Hubbard pointed out too other cities in the area have done this type of temporary fix regarding sewer lines.

    “The sewer line will be installed by end of January to early February,” he assured.

    Wilmer City Secretary Patsy Patten said, “The information on the apartment plumbing situation at this time is a process that is used temporarily by builders and has been used in our neighbor cities.

    “For this project, the sewage is pumped out of a holding tank into a tanker. It is then driven down the street to our own sewer main where it is disposed of properly into our sewer line. TCEQ has given us approval to perform this process since the permanent sewer line is being installed now.”

    Resident Hector Pena said he was concerned because while he had been told the system was a closed system with clamps that sucked up the sewer where it was disposed in the sewer manhole, he said he found “it was not fully contained, neither could I find that it was clamped in.

    “It’s alarming that a child or a pet could fall in due to this oversight of the city for proper inspections. It appears there has been a spill, which is not approved, yet specifically spills are regulated.”

    When alerted to the concern of spillage at the apartments Missie Schwab, City of Wilmer assistant city administrator physically made a trip to the site where the tanker driver said in a phone conversation with Schwab and the newspaper, “there had never been sewage coming out of the manhole when he made a pickup.”

    Schwab added sometimes items were too big to fit in the truck and were bagged separate. She also added the road to the manhole was a good road with a locked gate, with no trespassing behind the gate.

    The trunk dumps on the northeast corner of Beltline and Interstate 45.

    The apartment entrance is located on the east side I-45 just south of Beltline and is an apartment project that began last year.